The Bus Ride
by Jen27ny
Summary: Jaime and Brienne are both sleepy after a trip to Harrenhal. Modern AU
1. Brienne

Exhausted – and as graceless as ever – Brienne Tarth slid down into one of the seats at the back of the bus. Even though it wasn't quite 5 PM yet, the sun was already half gone. It would take them about five hours to get back to King's Landing University and she wanted to use that time and catch up with some sleep.

Her teacher for Medieval Literature, Professor Catelyn Stark, had offered a trip to Harrenhal, one of the best museums in all of Westeros, for everyone in her class. Usually it was quite expensive to get there, so as Professor Stark said, they only had to pay half of the price, Brienne – being a student and therefor constantly short on money – didn't hesitate one moment to sign up for it. It was no secret that she was a huge history-nerd, especially for the medieval times, and she wanted to visit the exhibition and grounds of Harrenhal for a long time.

The only downside was the bus ride. Harrenhal was quite a while away from King's Landing. At 6 AM they had to leave and arrived just a shortly before lunch. Not even Professor Stark could pretend to be awake and happy that early in the morning. They rushed through the rather large exhibition, walked around the grounds quite fast – nobody expected their teacher to be able to walk _that_ fast – and barely had any time for breaks. Nevertheless Brienne loved every second of it.

Just as she was about to plug in her headphones and let herself be lulled to the world of her dreams, a body slumped right next to her. Brienne jumped a little, looked to her left and saw the familiar, golden locks, that never fail to remind her of a lion. She wasn't even half as surprised as she should be, that no other than Jaime Lannister tried to keep her from sleeping.

"W-what are you doing?" she finally stuttered, still not sure, why he did choose to sit next to her. He hadn't done that in the morning. Instead, Jaime had picked an empty seat somewhere in front of her, popped up his legs on the seat next to him and slept for the whole time.

He flashed her one of his beautiful smiles that turned her legs to jelly and made her cheeks burn. His emerald eyes sparkled with a hint of mischief – just like always. "Why, I'm sitting here, wench."

_Wench_.

He kept calling her that since they met for the first time. It had been Brienne's first day at the university and it was just her luck, that she ran straight into Jaime Lannister, son of Tywin Lannister and therefor heir of Casterly Rock, the biggest and most successful gold-mining company in Westeros. He was so rich, he could bath in all of his money. They had met in Medieval Literature and he just wouldn't stop making fun of her.

It wasn't something that was new to Brienne. Nobody would call her pretty – they called her quite the opposite: ugly. And Brienne knew it was true. Her straw-like, blonde hair was thin and barely touched her shoulders, not even the best conditioner could save it – and Margaery had tried it –, she had a crocked nose, horse-like teeth, a mouth that was too wide, her barely existing breasts and her massive and unfeminine body was pale and covered with freckles.

No, she was no beauty. Strangely enough, everyone seemed to think that Brienne could forget her lack of beauty, and they took over the task to remind her of her unfortunate looks everyday. As if her reflexion wouldn't do that every time she passed a mirror, window or anything else, that was able to work as a mirror. Jaime, probably the most handsome man Brienne ever met, was no exception. Most of the time she just ignored all his jokes and taunts, but instead of getting tired, Jaime saw it as a challenge and just kept going.

That was before he saw her play.

Brienne was as much as a soccer-lover as she was a history-nerd and her father swore that she kicked a ball before she could even walk – Brienne obviously never believed it for the sole reason, that it was quite impossible to do that, but she did play as long as she could remember. The only reason why she could attend King's Landing University, one of the best and most expensive universities, was because she had a sport scholarship. When she played, she felt safe, even looked more graceful and was happy. A lot of boys teased her for it, but as soon as they saw her play, they would shut up. Especially after she beat them.

Jaime was a soccer player himself – one of the best, like he always liked to share with everyone who did and didn't want to hear it. Even Brienne had to admit that he was really good. There had been rumors that he was a substitute for the Casterly Lions, the team from Lannisport and one of the best in Westeros, but Brienne never believed that.

_One day a few months ago, Brienne was training by herself. It was already quite late and she thought she was alone, the perfect chance to work on her footwork without having all the glances of the other guys on her. She wasn't in the team yet, but she planned on getting in it. Her enthusiasm and good mood disappeared rather quickly, as she saw Jaime, captain of the team, stroll onto the field like he owned it. For all Brienne knew, his father donated so much money, that he actually could own the field. _

"_Look who is out here," he said with a loop-sided grin plastered on his face. At once Brienne's cheeks turned red and she looked down at her feet. "What do you think you're doing out here?"_

"_I am training," she answered quietly without looking up. _

"_Don't tell me you are playing."_

"_I am."_

_He started to laugh so hard, that he doubled over and tears started to come into his eyes. "You? You clumsy and graceless wench? Can you even manage to not trip over your own feet? How do you want to kick a ball in front of you?" _

_Brienne clenched her fists and looked down at the grass. She was used to that reaction. She could deal with it. All she had to do, was to remain silent and let them make their jokes._

"_I could beat you." _

_The words had left her mouth before she could stop them. For a moment she believed – hoped – that he hadn't heard her; but then his laughter stopped so abruptly that she finally looked into his eyes. He was tall, but still shorter than her by an inch or two. Amusement glittered in his eyes, but there was a spark of something else. Brienne couldn't quite but her finger on it, but it did something funny to her stomach._

"_Oh, do you really believe that?" he purred, sounding very much like the lion, that was the sigil of the Lannisters. _

"_No, I don't believe that" she said, still looking in his eyes and having no clue, where her courage came from. "I _know_ that I am better than you."_

"_Why don't we find out?"_

And they did.

In the end, none of them could tell, how long the were on the field. When they finally stopped, it had started to rain and was pitch black. Brienne won; 3-2. At first she thought Jaime would be too embarrassed to even talk to her ever again – he looked rather angry when he left the field – or make up some excuses like everyone else did, but she had been wrong. He asked her to practice together, saying he needed a good partner to practice, and nobody was as good as her. That time, she was just able to stare at him, her mouth slightly open and, finally, nodded. So they started to train together, they did their work-out in the gym together, discussed different players and tactics, and even did some of the essays for Professor Stark together. Of course he still teased her, but it became more friendly.

They came a long way from enemies to somewhat-friends and it hadn't been an easy way. There was the time when a player had broken Jaime's right hand by accident, even though everyone knew it hadn't been an accident. It had been really bad and he still had to wear the cast, even after almost two months. In the same second as his hand broke, all of Jaime's soccer planes and dreams shattered as well. It had been Brienne who had visit him in the hospital and helped him out of the pool of self-pity, that he had thrown himself into. She told him that he was more than just a soccer player, as often as he needed to hear it – which had been quite often. As he had asked her, if she could stay, she stayed with him for hours and days, until he had been discharged. He never mentioned why his family hadn't come to visit him and Brienne was sensible enough not to ask about it.

Then, of course, there had been the absolutely horrible party at Oberyn Martell's house. To be honest, it had been a rather good party, but because both Jaime and Brienne had a rather bad night – Jaime had another argument with his father and Brienne just found her crush Renly Baratheon making out with her best friend's brother Loras Tyrell – they got totally drunk and ended up sitting in the garden and baring their souls to each other.

Jaime told her about his unusual relationship with his twin Cersei, who was now the girlfriend of Robert Baratheon, one of the most powerful man in King's Landing, and that she slept with other men while he remained faithful to her. He told her about his argument with his father; that he didn't want to be the heir of Casterly Rock and because Tywin Lannister did not allow any disrespect, he had disowned him and kicked him out. He told her the story about Aerys Targaryen, the former captain of the team, who had been obsessed with fire and explosions. Jaime was responsible for Aerys being in jail and afterwards he was just known as the _Kingslayer_. He confessed that he had dyslexia, that he liked knights and sword-plays, that he did not know what to do if he can't play soccer, and – the most surprising thing for Brienne – that her eyes were beautiful.

Brienne told him about Hyle Hunt and the bet he and some other boys from her High School had about her virginity. She told him about her crush on Renly, the only person that had ever been nice to her. She told him about her dead brother and her dead mother. About her fear to disappoint her father, because she knew that he wished for her to have a boyfriend or more friends, even though he never said anything. At some point she even told him, that she wished she was as beautiful as Sansa or Margaery, that she wasn't that tongue-tight, wasn't as big, manly and freakish. She didn't tell him that he was handsome – he already knew that.

Brienne remained silent as Jaime spoke, letting him speak, just nodding then and there, and watched him closely. Jaime, on the other hand, didn't had such courtesies. At any point of any story, he would drop a comment, snort, or made any other kind of remark. As she told him about the bet, Jaime seemed honestly angry which surprised her even more than his comment about her eyes. They ended up talking for hours, before Oberyn finally found them, told them everyone else went home an hour ago and kicked them out.

At first Brienne had hope that both of them had drunken too much and wouldn't remember a single word they changed; but the fate was never gentle on her. When she woke up around afternoon the next day, she had a major headache, but she did not had a loss of memory. Jaime was just the same. He complained to her about feeling sick and then asked her if she had punched Hyle after she found out about the bet. She just gave him a short nod and he laughed before he started wincing and complained about his headache again.

It had surprised her that he actually turned up for the field trip. His mood had been fairly bad due to the earliness, but as soon as they had entered the armory, his eyes started to sparkle and they had a long discussion which sword looked the best. But of course Jaime had to get into trouble – he always does. Brienne didn't exactly know, what happened. She went to the bathroom while they had a short break and as she came back, Ronnet Connington had a bloody nose and Professor Stark scolded Jaime, who was holding his right hand. Later Brienne asked him what happened, but Jaime just shrugged and said that he was just a fucking idiot and deserved it. It wasn't like Brienne felt sorry for Ronnet – she was actually quite happy about it. They had some bad history together and Brienne sometimes just wanted to punch him herself.

"Don't look so surprised." Jaime's words brought her back to reality. She realized that her mouth was still open and closed it. "After all that's what you do with a seat."

"You could take one of the other seats. You would have more space."

"This one looks more comfortable. You don't mind, do you?" Without any further explanation, he popped his head on her shoulder, crossed his arms and stretched out his legs as far as he could. A second later his eyes were already closed.

Brienne just sat there, frozen and unsure what to do. Her eyes darted around the bus. Nobody was watching them and there was nobody behind them. Her heartbeat was racing and she feared that Jaime could hear it. She didn't even need to check her reflection; she already knew she looked like a tomato.

"J-Jaime!" She spit out his name in a low voice and as quite as possible, while she tried to express all of her unease at the same time.

"Brienne!" He mimicked her without opening one eye or moving in the slightest.

"What are you doing?"

"You repeat yourself. I'm trying to sleep, but it's quite difficult if a particular wench won't stop to move or shut up."

"Just pick another seat." She wiggled her shoulder, trying to get his head off of it, but there wasn't enough space for her to move, so his head only slid down a few inches.

"I quite like it here," he said and lazily opened his eyes to look at her. He flashed her another smile. "Your shoulders are far more comfortable than the seat."

Brienne opened her mouth, ready to spit back an answer, but her wit was gone – as always. So she sat there, her mouth open, her head and neck bright red and her blue eyes wider than ever. For a moment Jaime just watched her, waiting for a never-coming answer. As she remained silent, he just sighed and closed his eyes again.

"Just relax, wench," he said. "It's not like we never touched before."

Of course they had touched; as in having-physical-contact-in-a-totally-platonic-way. They did their warm-ups together and Brienne helped him countless times when he had troubles with his cast. They had touched each other in an innocent way.

But by the way he said it, a very different meaning of _touching _popped in Briennes head. She remembered the day as he had been discharged from the hospital and couldn't dress on his own. The day they had won a particular difficult game – before his hand had been crushed – as he had taken off his shirt and gave her a bear-like hug, all sweat and not noticing how he pressed himself against her, because he was too drunken on his euphoria.

Brienne's face burned and she quickly turned her head to look out of the window – anything to not look at him. The last thing she heard was a soft chuckle, then she plugged in her headphones and turned on one of her slower play-lists to fall asleep.

With a gasp Brienne woke up – a faster, slightly aggressive and especially louder song boomed into her ears. One of those she listened to when she trained and definitively not one in the play-list she had chosen. Something under her head moved and she realized that her head was not leaning against the window – where it had been as she had fallen asleep – but against Jaime's head. Startled she jumped in her seat, almost hitting her head against the window.

"Easy there, wench," Jaime laughed. "We don't want to end this trip in the hospital, do we?"

"Jaime, you - what - I-" Still confused she looked out of the window to clear up her thoughts – because his grin did not help to calm her down – and she realized something entirely else. "We're back." They almost entered the driveway to the grounds. She could make out the massive, old building of the university and the streetlights were little dots in the darkness.

"Yep," he said, popping the p. "Ah, finally a good one." The song changed again and this time it was one of Jaime's favorite songs. Immediately Brienne's attention went back to Jaime. She recognized a fairly familiar phone in his good hand.

"My phone," she gasped and snatched it out of his hand. He had one of her plugs in his ear, which fell out as she pulled at the phone.

"You have some really bad songs on there," he said, not sounding regretful in the slightest. "And there I was thinking you have at least a bit taste …" He shook his head and Brienne could hear low _tsk, tsk, tsk_.

"Why did you take my phone?" She stopped and thought for a second. "_How_ could you even unlock it?"

"Mine died earlier and I was bored." He shrugged. "And, c'mon, your birthday isn't that original. Take mine instead. Nobody would think of that."

Brienne didn't know what surprised her more; that he suggested his own birthday for her lock or that he even knew her birthday. Not finding the right words, she looked down on her phone, where the title of the song scrolled over the screen. Her phone with all her texts. The texts from Margaery. Especially the ones in which she had asked Brienne about her thoughts on Jaime. And she had been very persistent, until Brienne finally confessed that he was hot. Her face began to burn again. She would never hear the end of it, if he read it.

"Did you-," she began, stopped, cleared her throat and started again. "Did you read any … I mean -"

"Any texts?" he asked, arching a perfect, golden eyebrow. Brienne nodded shyly. _Oh gods, please say no, please say no._ A lion-like grin spread across his face. Was it possible for a heart to sink and beat faster at the same time? Because Brienne's certainly did. "What do you think?"

"I swear to the gods, if you read any text, I will break your legs the next time we train, Lannister," she growled in a low voice. Of course she wouldn't do it – at least that was what she told herself. One part of her brain disagreed rather fiercely.

Jaime laughed, giving Brienne goosebumps all over her body. _It's just because it was an exhausting day_, she told herself. _Jaime Lannister does not have such an effect on me. Normally. _

"Now I really wish I read them. They must be pretty interesting if you're willing to turn so aggressive for them." He looked at her, joy glittering in his eyes. Brienne just frowned back. "That means no, I didn't read them."

"Oh," was all she managed to say.

Jaime chuckled one last time and stood up. Brienne hadn't even noticed that the bus had stopped."Get up, wench, or do you want to spend the rest of the night in here?" He stretched his arms high above his head and yawned, not noticing that he exposed some skin over his waistband. Brienne looked anywhere but at his golden skin, his muscles that flexed with every move, the tiny patch of golden hair, that disappeared in his pants. Her face turned even redder as she desperately tried not to think about his pants and everything in or under it.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw him leaving, so she grabbed her backpack and hurried out of the bus. The cold air helped to calm her down and cooled down her face. Professor Stark told them about the trip to Storm's End in a fortnight, reminded them of their essay that was due to Monday and wished them all a good night. Brienne saw Jaime waving to someone and followed his gaze. She spotted his little brother Tyrion and his best friend – Tyrion's, not Jamie's – Bronn leaning against an expensive, black car. As Tyrion saw her, he nodded politely and Brienne returned the gesture.

Before Jaime went to greet his brother, he turned to her.

"Sure you don't want a ride?" Brienne rolled her eyes. He asked her every time and her answer was always the same.

"I'm sure. The dorms aren't that far away. But thanks anyway."

"It's pretty late already. And there are some weirdos out here." She wasn't entirely sure if she imagined it, but Jaime's gaze flicked to Ronnet Connington and darkened before he looked back at her. Brienne crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm perfectly capable of defending myself. I'm fine on my own."

"Geez, you stubborn wench, always blocking my attempts to be a gentleman." He shook his head, but Brienne knew he wasn't angry – his grin was too large for that. "Just text me when you're in your room. And call me if there is anything strange."

"If you insist." She rolled her eyes, annoyed of his unusual protectiveness. He perfectly knew that she was able to handle any problem herself.

"I do." Jaime sounded more serious than she expected and she glanced at him. For a second he met her gaze, still looking very serious, then he smiled again. "See you on Monday then. And don't forget to change the combination for your lock." He winked at her, turned around and strolled over to Tyrion and Bronn.

For a moment Brienne just stood there and watched him greet them. Tyrion asked something, pointing at Brienne, but Jaime shook his head. He looked over his shoulder to her, smiled and waved one last time. She waved as well before she turned around and went to her dorm.

She didn't had to walk for a long time. Her dorm was barely a five minute walk from the university. As she stood in front of her door, searching for her keys in her back, her phones buzzed in her pocket. Brienne sighed as she opened the door. She didn't even had to take a look to know who sent the text. The room was empty. Margaery must be out with Sansa. Her phones buzzed again as she throw her back on her bed. Finally she took it out of her pocket, unlocked it and open the two unread message which were no doubt from Jaime.

**SexiestManIKnow: **_U ur room yet?_

**SexiestManIKnow: **_ANSWER ME WENCH!_

For a moment Brienne just starred at the screen. It must have been longer than she realized because her phone started to buzz again.

**SexiestManIKnow:**_Srsly, answer me or ill come over_

Brienne decided to answer before he would turn up on her door mat.

**Me:**_Yes, I'm at my room, turn down your blood pressure. Why the Seven did you change your name?_

His answer came fast. Strangely Brienne was a bit proud of him. He got so much better at using his left hand in the past two months.

**SexiestManIKnow:**_Told u 2 txt me asap. Just changed it 2 the truth ;)_

**Me:**_As if._

For the hundredth time since she met Jaime Lannister, she was glad that he could not see how red she was when she sent a text. She closed the conversation before she could read his answer, which he had already sent. She was about to put it away, as something else caught her eyes. Jaime didn't just changed his name. He had changed her background as well.

He must have taken the picture because she couldn't remember taking it. They were at the bus, his head on her shoulder, one plug in his ear and a big, beautiful smile spread across his face. Her head leaned against his, the other plug in her ear as well, but she was deep asleep. Luckily her mouth wasn't open and she did look quite relaxed. It was a nice picture, she had to admit it.

Her phone buzzed again; another text from Jaime.

**SexiestManIKnow:**_Bet u dont change it ;)_

**SexiestManIKnow: **_Like ur new background?_

Another buzz before she could even think of an answer.

**SexiestManIKnow:**_U going 2 the storms end trip?_

Brienne did want to go to Storm's End. It had been way to long until she had been there the last time. The money on the other hand …

**Me:**_I won't even comment on the first two. I'll go if I can scrape the money together. Do you want to go?_

**SexiestManIKnow:**_Ill just go if u go. Wont be any fun w/o u_

Her stomach did that funny thing again and her cheeks burned as she read his text. Someone had to forbid him to send texts like that. Someone – but certainly not Brienne.

Another buzz.

**SexiestManIKnow: **_Besides i need my personal pillow for the bus ride._

Brienne couldn't help but smile at it. She could almost hear him say it, with a big smile and a wink.

**Me:**_Good night, Jaime._

**SexiestManIKnow:**_Good night, Brienne. Hope u sleep as good as u did on my shoulder :)_

She did not say that he had been the one to sleep on her shoulder – if she did she wouldn't get some sleep for another couple of hours. As she closed the conversation, she looked at the background again. If anyone would see it, especially Margaery or Sansa, she would never hear the end of it. Yes, it would definitely be better if she changed it back to something normal.

Smiling she put her phone aside.

She would change it tomorrow. Or some other day.

* * *

A/N: All characters belong to GRRM! So this is my first ASoIaF-fic and my first J/B-fic. Hope you like it and please, please, please comment!


	2. Jaime

Growling and still in a bad mood, Jaime Lannister climbed into the bus. He was not looking forward to the long ride home; to be honest he wasn't looking forward to anything at all. After Professor Stark had almost screamed at him, scolding him for punching Ronnet Connington, even the armory couldn't lift up his spirit. Of course he hadn't told her, why he had punched Ronnet. It was his task – and he wasn't even sure, when he decided it was his task, but now he was very sure it was – to defend Brienne's honor whenever she didn't had the chance to do it.

Speaking of the devil, he just saw his overly tall friend – best friend he had to admit – sat down at the back of the bus. Originally he had planned to just shut his eyes and sleep, but now he changed his plan. After all he deserved it. Brienne Tarth was searching for her headphones and didn't see him coming. Just as he sat down next to her, she noticed him and turned bright red immediately. The blush made her freckles stand out against her pale skin. For a second he wondered, when exactly he became fond of her freckles.

"W-What are you doing?" she asked him. Even though she still stuttered and was impossible shy, she got a lot better since he met her. He flashed her one of his best smiles.

"Why, I'm sitting here, wench."

Brienne wasn't even correcting him anymore, which slightly disappointed him. At first _wench_ had just been an insult, another way to annoy her. But now it was more like a nickname and she seemed to have accepted it; at least when he said it. She looked at him, with her big, blue eyes. _Those astonishing eyes_.

Even the first time he had seen her, Jaime had noticed her eyes, like two sapphires in the middle of a mud pile. She wasn't much to look at and he had used every opportunity to pick up on something – her height, her face, her broad shoulders, her freckles, her big mouth, her straw-like hair, her horsey teeth, but never her eyes.

Yes, he had teased her a lot, but that had been before he actually started to get to know her. Before she had beaten him that night at the soccer field. He would never admit it, but it had been one of the best games he had had in a really long time. It had definitely been before she made him fight all the demons that had possessed him when they broke his hand. And before he had basically told her every secret of his life, even about Cersei. He honestly didn't know why he had told her anything at all – sometimes he blames the alcohol – but he had been even more surprised, that she had started talking as well.

Maybe it had been after that night, that he took over the task to defend Brienne. And that was the reason why he had punched Ronnet.

_Brienne just left to go to the bathroom, while all the other took a look at the bear pit. It was massive and one of the most impressive things in Harrenhal. Hundreds of years ago, they had their enemies thrown into the pit to fight against a bear. The song _The Bear And The Maiden Fair_ was based on one of the most famous tales. A lady knight was fighting against a bear, wearing a pink dress and just with a wooden sword in her hand. In the song, the bear and the maid made peace by themselves, but in the tale, a knight with just one hand jumped into the pit to save her. Later, after they fought in wars and against the Others, they both married and had a bunch a children. Brienne loved the story so much, she was almost obsessed with it; Jaime knew that better than anyone. _

_For their Medieval Literature class they had to do a presentation about their favorite tale and Brienne chose that story – Jaime, who had been her partner, didn't had any chance to object. In the end had made a little video and Jaime could even convince Brienne to make it a bit funny. Brienne had been the lady knight, Jaime was the one handed knight and the big, brown dog from his neighbor had been the bear. It had been quite hilarious, even Professor Stark had smiled and she basically hated everything he did. Of course that hadn't been enough for Brienne and she had forced him to work on a three page long essay about it; he highly suspected that it was a kind-of-punishment for his idea of a funny video. After all Professor Stark gave them almost all points for the assignment, so Jaime did not complain. _

"_A shame they don't have the bear anymore," Ronnet Connington complained so loudly, that it was almost impossible not to hear him. "It would be so much fun to throw the ugly bitch down there."_

_Normally Jaime ignored Ronnet whenever he could, because nothing that came out of his mouth made any sense, but this time he listened up. There weren't many options, who the _ugly bitch_ was. There weren't a lot of girls on the trip, and most of them were pretty; most of them, but not Brienne. Slowly and without anyone noticing, Jaime turned to Ronnet. _

"_But on the other side," he said laughing. "We don't want to be too cruel to the bear. It would surely scare itself shitless if it sees her ugly face." His friends laughed and Jaime could feel his blood boiling. _

_Slowly and graceful as a cat – or like a lion, because that would be more like a Lannister – he walked over to them. They didn't noticed him right away, but as soon as Ronnet saw him, he looked at him a bit wary. Everyone knew that Jaime and Brienne were friends. But Jaime just flashed them an easy smile, like he wanted to joke together with them. They all relaxed, obviously believing him. _Idiots_. _

"_I couldn't stop myself to overhear your conversation," Jaime said good-naturally. "You want to get a bear down there? Would be quite a show, wouldn't it?"_

"_Of course it would," Ronnet laughed, very pleased with himself that he was on good terms with Jaime Lannister – despite everything, he was still popular. _

"_But … I was wondering, who do you want to fight against the bear? I couldn't quite catch the name." There must have been a dangerous glint in his eyes, because Ronnet's friends carefully took a step back. Ronnet hadn't noticed it._

"_Well, that ugly bitch of course. Brienne Tarth, the freak. The bear would -" _

_Nobody should ever find out, how the sentence would end. _

_Jaime struck out and punched him right in the face. Too late he realized that it had been his right hand, his broken one in the cast. It hurt like the seven hells, but he didn't say anything. In fact, he couldn't say anything at all, he was too angry. Ronnet's nose was bleeding badly and he looked at him utterly shocked._

"_Call her like that again," he finally growled in a low voice and he never heard himself so angry. "And you don't have to worry about your nose. Her name is Brienne."_

"_Lannister!" Professor Stark screamed and rushed over to him. Jaime looked at Ronnet one last time, before he turned to his professor, who was now screaming at him. He couldn't remember a single word she said. Something about bad behavior or anything. Honestly, he didn't care. His hand started to throb and out of the corners of his eyes, he saw Brienne coming back from the bathroom. Her eyes – her beautiful, gorgeous eyes – darted between him and Ronnet and a scowl formed on her forehead. _

"_What happened?" she asked as Professor Stark finally finished screaming at him. Brienne came over to him right away. _

"_I punched Connington," he said and tried to sound cheerfully. Even in his own ears he still sounded angry. _

"_Why?" She gave him a puzzling look. Jaime knew about Hyle Hunt and the bet, after all she told him about it at the party, but she never mentioned Ronnet. Jaime wasn't actually sure if they had some kind of history together or if Ronnet just insulted her because of her looks. Immediately he felt another rush of anger, before he remembered that he had done exactly the same. His anger transformed into guilt. _

"_He deserved it," Jaime said with a shrug, because Brienne wouldn't stop watching him. _

"_Why?"_

"_Because he is a fucking idiot." _

_For a second she looked like she wanted to say something, maybe ask him something else. But what ever laid on her tongue, she swallowed it down. Instead she looked at his hand in the cast. Without a word, she took it in her hands to look at it. _

She's gentle_, Jaime thought. It always surprised him, how gentle she could be, while at the same time she had so much power and such a strength. _

"_It was reckless to use your right hand," she said, still scowling, but Jaime could see a hint of amusement in her eyes. "Next time you hit someone, use your left one, or you never get rid of the cast before the next season starts." _

"_Whatever you say, nurse Brienne," he said in a serious voice, but winked at her afterwards. Brienne blushed and turned around to follow Professor Stark. _

Brienne still looked at him, her eyes full of surprise and her mouth slightly agape. In the past few weeks he found it even harder to ignore the looks she gave him and it didn't matter if they were full of hate, surprise, amusement or whatever. He just had to look into them. Somehow he had the feeling, it would be the death of him.

Or the greatest thing that could ever happen in his life.

He was a bit scared to find it out.

"Don't look so surprised," he said to stop his thoughts to go in dangerous directions. Brienne closed her mouth. "After all that's what you do with a seat."

"You could take one of the other seats. You would have more space." That was true. Brienne took up a lot of space and Jaime himself wasn't one of the smallest persons either.

Suddenly a different thought struck him and he had to do his best to suppress a large grin. Oh, how he could tease her.

"This one looks more comfortable. You don't mind, do you?" Before she could say anything, he laid his head on her shoulder, crossed his arms over his chest and stretched his legs out on the aisle. That was more comfortable than he thought and Briennes broad shoulders were just about the right height.

"J-Jaime!" she almost whispered and Jaime could hear her efforts to make him feel bad. His eyes were closed, but he could see her red face just in front of him. Judging from her tone, it must be a very deep red.

"Brienne," he mimicked her. Oh, he was enjoying this far too much. She would hate him afterwards.

"What are you doing?"

"You repeat yourself. I'm trying to sleep, but it's quite difficult if a particular wench won't stop to move or shut up."

"Just pick another seat." She tried to wiggle her shoulders to get his head off of her shoulder, but there was not enough space for it. Instead his head just slid down a bit, making it more comfortable for Jaime.

"I quite like it here," he said and finally opened his eyes. She was as red as a tomato and her eyes were even bigger than normally. He couldn't help but smile at it. "Your shoulders are far more comfortable than the seat."

She opened her mouth to say something, but not a single word came out of it. Instead she just looked at him, which was far worse in Jaime's opinion. For a second he lost himself in her eyes.

_I really need to get a grip on myself_, he thought. _Or else I might do something stupid_.

He closed his eyes again. "Just relax, wench. It's not like we never touched before."

He knew her too well. A slight change of his voice and he knew where her thoughts went. After all, he wanted them to go there, making her blush again. But even though he tried to avoid it, his thoughts went in the same direction as well. Something that happened quite regular the last few weeks. Jaime would think of the time when she was training in the gym, only in a sports bra and shorts, because it was too hot to wear anything at all. It was true that she wasn't feminine, but to see her like that was strangely appealing for Jaime.

Quickly he thought of something else, before he would get some problems of a whole different kind.

He felt Brienne turning her head and couldn't help himself but chuckle. It was always fun to tease her. Because she didn't do anything else, he just tried to sleep and soon enough he was dreaming.

* * *

As Jaime woke up, he needed a moment to realized, why his neck felt sore and why he wasn't in his bed. The memories of the field trip came back to him and he looked at his watch. Still another two hours until they should arrive in King's Landing.

Sighing he looked at Brienne. She was fast asleep with her headphones plugged into her ears and her head leaning against the window. With every little bump, her head would hit the window slightly. Quietly Jaime winced. How could she sleep like that?

Before her head could hit the window again, Jaime's hand snugged out to prevent it. For a moment her head just leaned against his hand. Then there was another bump, and suddenly her head was leaning against his.

Jaime froze, unsure what to do. Nobody saw them – it wasn't like he would give a damn what anyone thought, but he knew Brienne would freak out. Carefully he tried to move her head against a seat, but it would always roll back onto his head. A bit awkwardly he sat there and waited. Maybe she would wake up soon.

She didn't.

After sitting like that for about ten minutes, Jaime sighed and took another glance at Brienne. He almost had to roll his eyes back into his head to see her. She looked way more relaxed like this. Her frown wasn't there and for the first time it struck Jaime, how young she was. He would always forget it with her stuck-up attitude and being serious all the time.

One of her earplugs fell out of her ear and without thinking Jaime took it and plugged it into his ear. Some slow song was playing and he grimaced. It wasn't his taste at all. For a second he thought about changing the song, but he didn't want to wake her. So he took out his phone and started playing some games on it. He knew he couldn't go back to sleep.

They were still about an hour away from King's Landing, when his phone died. He cursed himself for not charging it up fully and slit it back into his pocket. Everyone was still asleep and Brienne's head still leaned against his. Strangely he wasn't really annoyed by it.

He was just about to look away from her as he noticed her phone, which she still hold in her hands. For a second he just looked at it, thinking if he should really dare it. He knew she had a really good game on it – he knew it, because he downloaded it for her. She wasn't that kind of person who had tons of apps on her phone. Sometimes he wondered why she still had the game on her phone.

Carefully he took her phone out of her hands. His eyes were fixed on the reflection in the window, watching if she would move. Slowly and as carefully as he could, he took her phone out of her hands. She didn't wake up. Happy that he was able to snatch the phone away, he turned it on.

His happiness turned into annoyance.

Her phone was locked. Of course it was, after all it was Brienne's phone he had in his hands. Luckily it was a code instead of some pattern. That would make it far easier. For a moment he thought about the code. A number with four figures. That could be anything. A specific date or just some random combination.

Jaime, never being one with a lot of patience, tried his luck and entered the most obvious combination. Her birthday.

To his surprise, the phone did unlock. _Stupid wench_, he thought, but couldn't help but smile. He was at least a bit proud, that he got the code right. _You should pick something else._

Her background was just as boring as to be expected. Some picture that had already been on her phone when she had brought it. Slightly annoyed, and because he had nothing better to do, he searched for a better background. Brienne wasn't one to take a lot of photos. There were a lot of pictures that she got from other people. Jaime immediately recognized all the random pictures he had sent her. There were some pictures from dresses, food or screenshots and Jaime highly suspected, that Margaery or Sansa sent them.

After looking through all her pictures and not finding a decent photo, Jaime sighed and glanced at Brienne again, as if he would want to say _Why are you so boring?_ His eyes lingered on her longer than he had intended to do and slowly a thought start to pop up into his head. Brienne didn't like to take pictures of her and Jaime couldn't blame her. If he would have lived all his live with a face like hers … Once again he thanked his Lannister looks.

But now she looked as relaxed as he had never seen her before. Of course that alone wasn't enough to turn her into a beauty, but Jaime still thought she looked better than normally. Without further thinking, he opened the camera, flashed a smile and took a picture. He was quite happy with it. As he set it as her new background, he smiled, imagining how she would react if she saw it.

His thumb lingered over the icon for the game, but his eyes were drawn to something different.

Her messages.

That would be interesting. At least he hoped so. Knowing Brienne, they could turn out pretty boring. Still, he hesitated. It was a big deal to read her texts. They were private. He surely wouldn't want anyone to read them without knowing it.

_She never has to find out_, a small voice in his head said. That was enough to convince him. He opened the messages, half expecting Brienne to wake up and catching him with his hand in the cookie-jar; she didn't though.

The conversation on top was from him, his text from this morning, saying that he would be there in five minutes. _Lannister_ was his name. He huffed, feeling a bit offended by it – after all she was at least _Wench_ in his phone; couldn't she pick something more personal? – and changed it to _SexiestManIKnow_. Again, he was a bit disappointed, that he would not see her reaction to it.

The next conversation was from her father – simply _Dad_ – and he wished her a lot of fun on her trip. He sent her a lot of texts, asking about her soccer games or practices, wishing her good luck for a test or just asking how she was doing. For a second Jaime tried to picture his father sending him such texts. A cold shiver went down his back. No, that wasn't Tywin Lannister at all.

Her texts with Sansa were pretty boring. They asked what time they should meet to study, go to dinner, meet to watch a DVD or whatever girls did. Sometimes Sansa would ask Brienne about her opinion on a dress or shoes, but that was basically it.

He was about to give up his sneaking and finally play the game, when he saw something interesting in Margaery's texts. At first it didn't made a lot of sense, so he scrolled all the way up to the first message from yesterday evening.

**Margaery:** _Hey brie, will b back l8 2night, dont worry, okay? :*_

**Me:** _Alright, have fun!_

**Margaery:** _U sure u dont want to come w us? Sansa and i r going out 2morrow 2 _

**Margaery:** _U r more than welcome to join us :)_

**Me:** _Thanks, but no. I'm at Harrenhal tomorrow anyway. _

**Margaery:** _Right, forgot bout it. Leaving early? Lots of fun!_

**Me:** _Yeah, we will leave pretty early and I will come back late. Thanks. _

**Margaery:** _Will Mr Hottie b there 2? ;)_

Jaime raised his eyebrows. Who was _Mr Hottie_? Surely Brienne would have told him if she liked someone. Right? Not that he could see Brienne dating anyone. A weird feeling started to boil in his stomach as he tried to picture Brienne hugging, kissing and be one of those stupid couples with anyone. He quickly started to scroll again, before he thought too much about it.

**Me:** _Stop it, Margaery. _

**Margaery:** _Just asking a question ;)_

**Me:** _Yes, he will be there. He is in my class, remember?_

Quickly Jaime's eyes darted through the bus. He was on the bus? Who was it? Surely not Ronnet. At least he hoped it was not Ronnet, or else … To be honest, he wouldn't know what to do if she liked _anyone_ on the bus. In his eyes, they were all idiots.

_Why didn't she tell me?_, he thought, sounding like a little child, that didn't got his toy.

**Margaery:** _How could i ever forget_

**Margaery:** _U happy he'll b there? ;)_

**Me:** _Not answering anymore questions about him. _

**Margaery:** _U r no fun at all :(_

The next messages were just some drunken ones from Margaery, telling Brienne that she loves her, and Brienne answering that she wanted to sleep. _Mr Hottie _didn't left Jaime's mind though. He felt oddly betrayed by the thought, that Brienne did not told him that she had a crush on someone. Or thought that someone was hot.

Eagerly he started to scroll back up again. He had a couple of minutes left before they would arrive in King's Landing. If he could just find out who it was … then he could make sure that that someone would never hurt her. Or else he would hurt him.

It wasn't easy to read the texts. Brienne spelled just fine – being the serious person she was –, but Margaery was a whole different story. Her drunk texts were especially painful for his dyslexia. After what felt like hours, he finally found something that seemed promising. It was something from about two weeks ago.

**Margaery:** _The discussion isnt over, brie_

**Me:** _Yes, it is. _

**Margaery:** _Just say hes hot_

**Me:** _Why?_

**Margaery:** _Bc u like him ;) _

**Me:** _What? I thought it was about him being hot or not, not if I like him. _

**Margaery:** _Its bout both_

**Margaery:** _Cmon brie, just answer_

**Margaery:** _I know u like him_

**Margaery:** _And u think hes hot_

**Margaery:** _Brienne?_

**Margaery:** _If u dont answer me, ill tell him u like him. _

**Me:** _Fine. _

**Margaery:** _Fine what?_

**Me:** _Fine, he is hot. _

**Margaery:** _And u like him?_

**Me:** _Isn't it enough to answer one of your questions?_

**Margaery:** _Ok but just 2day. Ill call him Mr Hottie now. _

**Me:** _Don't you dare. _

**Margaery:** _Y? He knows hes hot. Every1 knows. Hes a freaking lannister. Its like some birthlaw or something._

Their conversation did went on, but Jaime could not concentrate on it. There weren't many Lannisters on this field trip. Just him, in fact.

So … _he_ was _Mr Hottie_?

Slowly, Jaime blinked at the screen. That, somehow, changed a lot. He didn't know what exactly it changed, but it changed everything; he couldn't tell if it was good or not.

It was true, he knew he was hot, but somehow he didn't thought Brienne would think that. Or admit it. Very briefly he thought about changing his name again, this time to _MrHottie_. On a second thought, Brienne would probably hurt him very much if she would find out, he read her texts.

Luckily he didn't need to think about for a long time. Out of the corners of his eyes, he saw the familiar building of the university. Quickly he closed all the texts, opened the music and turned on another song. Gasping Brienne's eyes flew open and she jumped in her seat, her head almost crashing against the window.

"Easy there, wench. We don't want this trip to end in the hospital, do we?" He laughed, trying to sound like he just did not read her texts about him.

_And u like him?_

Jaime did not missed to notice, that she hadn't answered that question. And that was the one question whose answer he would really like to know.

"Jaime, you- what- I-" Still confused and not really awake, she looked out of the window. "We're back."

"Yep," he said, popping the p and scrolling through her playlist. _I should have downloaded some music for her, not a game. _"Ah, finally a good one!" He selected one of his favorite songs and it seemed like, for the first time, Brienne noticed that he had her phone in his hands.

"My phone," she said and snatched it back from him. His earplug fell out of his ear.

"You have some really bad songs on there. And there I was thinking you have at least a bit taste …" He shook his head and _tsk_ed.

"Why did you take my phone?" She stopped and Jaime could tell that she was thinking about something. "_How_ could you even unlock it?"

"Mine died earlier and I was bored." He shrugged. "And, c'mon, your birthday isn't that original. Take mine instead. Nobody would think of that."

_I should have changed the numbers when I had the chance to_, he thought. _That would have annoyed her._

But Brienne just stared at her phone for a long time. Again he could tell that she was thinking about something. By now it was so easy for him to read her.

_Yet you never noticed that she thinks you're hot_, the small voice mocked him.

"Did you-," she cleared her throat and based on the shade of red in her face, Jaime knew what she was going to say. "Did you read any … I mean -"

"Any texts?" he finished for her, arching an eyebrow. Slowly she nodded, eager and very nervous to hear his answer. _Well, showtime, Lannister. Let's see if you're still able to lie into her face while looking in her blue eyes_. His smile was very wide. "What do you think?"

"I swear to the gods, if you read any text, I will break your legs the next time we train, Lannister," she threatened him in a low voice.

Jaime did the first thing that popped into his head; laughing. In his ears it sounded quite genuine, but truth to be told, he was rather afraid, that she would really break his legs. "Now I really wish I read them. They must be pretty interesting if you're willing to turn so aggressive for them." Brienne frowned, obviously not getting the meaning of his words. "That means no, I didn't read them."

"Oh," was all she said, believing him. He chuckled, trying to sound amused.

Jaime felt a bit guilty though; all Lannisters lie, he was used to it, but he really didn't like to lie to Brienne.

On the other hand, he quite liked his legs not broken.

The bus stopped. Quickly he stood up, ready to follow everyone else. Brienne remained seated, still lost in her own thoughts. "Get up, wench, or do you want to spend the rest of the night in here?" He stretched his arms over his head and yawned, wishing he was already in his bed and not in this bus, and finally left. Behind him, he could hear Brienne getting up and following him.

Outside Jaime spotted his brother Tyrion and Bronn, waiting at his car, and waved to them. He heard Professor Stark talking about the upcoming trip to Storm's End and some essays, but he didn't paid any attention. In his head, he was already in his bed. Before he left, he turned to Brienne. "Sure you don't want a ride?"

He had asked her the questions a thousand times, but she would always decline. She rolled her eyes at him and he knew the answer before it even left her lips.

"I'm sure. The dorms aren't that far away. But thanks anyway," she said, sounding only a bit annoyed.

"It's pretty late already. And there are some weirdos out here." His eyes darted to Connington, who was talking to some of his friends. Jaime was still angry at him and he had a bad feeling, that Connington would come back at him for it. The easiest way would be through Brienne.

As he looked back to her, she had her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm perfectly capable of defending myself. I'm fine on my own."

"Geez, you stubborn wench, always blocking my attempts to be a gentleman." He shook his head, trying to get rid of the thoughts of what Connington could to. To not scare her, he grinned largely. "Just text me when you're in your room. And call me if there is anything strange."

"If you insist." She rolled her eyes again and suddenly Jaime got a bit angry. Didn't she see that he was trying to protect her?

"I do," he said seriously and she looked at him. For a moment he just looked back, but then he broke out into a smile. _No need to worry her too much._ "See you on Monday then. And don't forget to change the combination for your lock." He winked one last time at her and strolled over to his car.

Because of his broken arm, he still couldn't drive, and because he didn't want any stranger to drive his precious car around, Tyrion had suggest to hire Bronn. Jaime liked him enough to trust him with his care. He did complain when they had to leave early in the morning, but he knew that a Lannister always paid his debts.

"How was your trip, dear brother?" Tyrion greeted him, smiling and looking up to him. Margaery wasn't right; not all Lannisters were hot and Tyrion was the best example for it. He had dwarfism, mismatching eyes and a mop of dark blond hair. Bronn on the other hand was tall, had dark hair, dark eyes and a short beard. Jaime would never call him hot though. Not that he would ever call any guy hot.

"Oh, you know, pretty relaxing," Jaime said and shrugged. "Just punched one guy. Nothing too exciting." Bronn laughed and Tyrion smirked, but something else caught his eyes.

"Are we dropping her off?" he asked and pointed to something behind him. Jaime knew he meant Brienne and shook his head.

"No, her dorm isn't that far away." He turned around and saw Brienne still standing there and watching him. He waved and she waved back before she turned around and left.

"Who did you punch?" Bronn asked as they all climbed into the car. Jaime was more than happy to sit in the back. Finally some space. The first thing he did was to plug his phone into the recharger of the car. Gods be blessed that he had that thing.

"Ronnet Connington," Jaime answered.

"The ginger?" Bronn sped up before the lights could turn red.

"Yes, the ginger. Broke his nose." Bronn laughed again and even Tyrion chuckled, before he turned around to look at him with a puzzling look. At least he tried to look puzzling, but it was more a look of amusement.

"Why did you do it?"

"Because he is a fucking idiot and I didn't like what he was talking about." The frown formed on his head all on its own.

"Oh, really," Tyrion said slowly and Jaime really didn't like the tone of his voice. It usually meant that he would mock him. "It didn't happen to be something about our dear Brienne, was it?" This time, Jaime just growled instead of an answer. Tyrion laughed and turned back around.

Jaime looked at his watch. Five minutes had passed. Brienne should be at her room now. Quickly he looked at the phone.

No new messages.

Frowning, he started to type something. It was still a bit weird to use his left hand, but it was better than a few weeks ago.

**Me: **_U ur room yet?_

"Who are you texting?" Tyrion asked just as Jaime hit send.

"The wench," he answered, but his eyes were fixed the screen. He heard Tyrion mutter something to Bronn which sounded like _Better not interrupt him then, _but Jaime didn't listen. As she still wouldn't answer, he sent another text.

**Me:**_ANSWER ME WENCH!_

He waited again, but still now answer. Maybe something had happened. Maybe Connington actually went after her. Or someone else. There were a lot of dangerous guys out there and after all, Brienne was still a woman. A strong one, but still – he felt very uneasy. But before he would tell Bronn to turn around and look after Brienne, he decided to send her one more text.

**Me:**_Srsly, answer me or ill come over_

This time she did reply and he was more relieved about it, than he had expected.

**Wench:**_Yes, I'm at my room, turn down your blood pressure. Why the Seven did you change your name?_

He grinned and started to type right away.

**Me:**_Told u 2 txt me asap. Just changed it 2 the truth ;)_

**Wench:**_As if. _

_Oh, wench, if you would just know, that I know who Mr Hottie is_, he thought, grinning like a maniac. He wouldn't tell her though; he was still afraid she would break his legs.

**Me:**_Bet u dont change it ;)_

Another thought struck him. When she had noticed the name, she must have noticed the background as well.

**Me: **_Like ur new background?_

"Are you going to the next trip from Stark?" Tyrion's question brought him back to reality and Jaime had to blink a few times.

"What trip?"

"Storm's End. Seriously, how could you not hear her? She was basically screaming it around."

"Maybe," he answered, ignoring the rest of his questions, and started to type his next question for Brienne.

**Me:**_U going 2 the storms end trip?_

**Wench:**_I won't even comment on the first two. I'll go if I can scrape the money together. Do you want to go?_

**Me:**_Ill just go if u go. Wont be any fun w/o u. _

It was true – he had been in Storm's End a few times and he wasn't really excited to spend more time than necessary with Professor Stark. He knew that Brienne liked Storm's End and there were actually some pretty interesting things to do. But if there wouldn't be a decent human-being he could talk to, he wouldn't go. And if he had the choice, he would prefer Brienne.

Of course, he could never let her know that.

**Me: **_Besides __i __need my personal pillow for the bus ride. _

**Wench:**_Good night, Jaime. _

He could almost see her rolling her eyes and grinned again.

**Me:**_Good night, Brienne. Hope u sleep as good as u did on my shoulder :)_

"Do you even realize, that you are grinning like a fool every time you send her a text?" Tyrion asked. Jaime looked up and realized that they were already there.

"Shut up," Jaime said and started to gather all his things together. "I'm not grinning because of her texts."

"Oh, not? Why then?"

"It's because I'm hot." A really big grin appeared on his face. "And _everyone_ thinks that."

"And is _everyone_ really tall and has blue eyes?"

"Shut up." Jaime couldn't help but smile and changed his name on his phone to _MrHottie_.

* * *

A/N: So yeah, another chapter! All thanks to your lovely reviews :) I hope you enjoy this one as much as the other one :) All characters belong to GRRM. Cheers!


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